Bill Would Remove Plan B Pill From School Discussion

Bill Would Remove Plan B Pill From School Discussion

A bill filed last week would ban North Carolina schools from teaching students about the morning-after birth control pill. HB596 also would allow school districts to design their own sex education curriculum without any review by experts in the field.

Plan B is also known as the morning-after pill, and is a widely available form of emergency contraception. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration two years ago made it available over the counter without a prescription.

WRAL-TV reports the bill's primary sponsor, Republican Rep. Chris Whitmire, called Plan B a "life-ending drug" that can cause spontaneous abortion, and he doesn't feel that North Carolina students should know about it.

Current state law allows instruction of any FDA-approved contraceptive in sex education classes.

Melissa Reed of Planned Parenthood says Plan B works to prevent fertilization and has no effect if a woman is already pregnant. She calls the claim that Plan B causes spontaneous abortion untrue.

She also expressed concern that the bill would no longer require sex-ed experts to approve school districts' courses. Reed fears there will be pressure to move back to an abstinence-based curriculum.